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The Optimism Bias

Guests

Tali Sharot: Research fellow at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at University College London. Her latest book is "The Optimism Bias: A Tour of the Irrationally Positive Brain."

Why do most people believe that the future will be much better than the past and present, despite all evidence to the contrary? In her new book, Tali Sharot looks at how the brain generates hope and what happens when it fails; how the brains of optimists and pessimists differ; why we are terrible at predicting what will make us happy. Originally broadcast July 5, 2011.